


Legends Never Die

by UmbraeCalamitas, WhinyWingedWinchester



Series: I Shine Only With the Light You Gave Me [1]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Caleb Widogast is Nott's boy, Campaign 2 (Critical Role), Claustrophobia, Comfort, Don't forget to love each other, Feelings, Found Family, Friendship/Love, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Healing, Hurt Caleb Widogast, Hurt/Comfort, Iron Shepherds Arc (Critical Role), Loss, Magic, Mollymauk Tealeaf Comes Back, Mollymauk Tealeaf Has Feelings, Mollymauk Tealeaf Lives, Pre-Relationship, Protective Beauregard Lionett, Serious Injuries, Shadycreek Run, c2 e29, magical limitations, spoilers through c2 e29, zemnian
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-09-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:09:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26263192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UmbraeCalamitas/pseuds/UmbraeCalamitas, https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhinyWingedWinchester/pseuds/WhinyWingedWinchester
Summary: One miscalculation in the battle against the Iron Shepherds ends with Caleb lying in a bed in The Landlocked Lady, struggling to survive, while the Mighty Nein do what they can to keep their wizard alive.
Relationships: Beauregard Lionett & Caleb Widogast, Beauregard Lionett & Nott, Fjord & Jester Lavorre, Jester Lavorre & Caleb Widogast, Jester Lavorre & The Traveler, Mollymauk Tealeaf & Caleb Widogast, Mollymauk Tealeaf & Yasha
Series: I Shine Only With the Light You Gave Me [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1908109
Comments: 7
Kudos: 177
Collections: Finished111





	Legends Never Die

**Author's Note:**

> Trips and I have fallen into the Critical Role hole and we're going to drag you all down with us. 
> 
> This fic contains spoilers through Campaign 2, Episode 29. Please do not post comments containing information beyond that point, both for other readers as well as for us, as we are not caught up yet. We shall continue to give you Critical Role fic throughout our journey. 
> 
> Have a wonderful read.

Consciousness is a fickle thing, in his experience. It comes and goes as it pleases, waxing and waning with frequent irregularity, warped by the whims of others far more often than by his own. 

As he drifted toward consciousness, there was a sense that this wasn’t what should have been happening. That  _ waking up _ didn’t make sense. He had no recollection of going to sleep, so returning to consciousness wasn’t next in the list of things to be done. 

Regardless, he found himself struggling to open his eyes. They were weighted down, heavy with the same exhaustion that seemed to weigh down all of his limbs. It was the sort of heavy weight that came from having something pinning you down too long. He was familiar with the feeling of Frumpkin sprawled out across his arm until the limb lost all feeling, but this was a full-body sensation. Arms, legs, neck. He didn’t think he could have turned his head if he wanted to. Surely his eyelids weighed as much as a mountain. If he had strength at all left for it, he would have been trembling at the exertion. 

It took him nine minutes before he managed to open his eyes a crack. He regretted it immediately, cringing away from the stabbing pain in his eyes. A choked breath escaped him as the movement lit up inside him like dancing lights, agony rippling out from the center of him until he was absolutely certain he was on fire, he was burning. 

He tried to twist away but the pain followed, growing brighter, chasing him no matter how he tried to move away. His throat was raw and ragged, his body trapped in fire, and he was absolutely certain he was screaming, maybe pleading, begging someone to  _ make it stop.  _

The darkness, when it came, was an undeserved relief.

* * *

Molly looked to the stairs leading up when Caleb cried out -  _ screamed and begged - _ and then back down to his tarot cards, shuffling them over and over. He laid them out, picked them up and shuffled them again. Caleb’s voice had gone quiet again, and he shoved the deck back into his coat pocket, ignoring the sound of Nott calling his name and wandered over to lean on the banister. 

He didn’t go up. Just stood and looked up the stairs. It would be his turn to go up soon enough. To sit by Caleb’s bed and watch as he tried to  _ live _ . A warm hand on his back made him turn, tail whipping in agitation, and Molly sighed at Keg. 

“Sit down,” she said firmly. “You’re being a pain in the arse, Mollymauk.” 

Molly hissed at her but she just glared right back. “You’re a bit of a bitch.” 

“And you’re a fuckin’ asshole. Now sit down before Nott snaps you in half.” 

_ Well _ , Molly thought with a huff,  _ can’t argue with that logic.  _

Yasha lifted her arm as Mollymauk settled on the bench beside her and wrapped it about his shoulders, pulling him more firmly against her. 

There was a sense of nervous anticipation surrounding the entire group. Not just concerning Caleb, but concerning Mollymauk, as well. A man who, from what little they’d been able to get out of Nott and Beau, should have been dead.  _ Had _ been dead. 

Molly himself hadn’t said much to them about it, though his bloodsoaked shirt and the tapestry covered in dirt spoke well enough to some truth. 

Everyone was waiting. Waiting for the dead man among them to prove to be nothing more than a ghost. Waiting for the dying man upstairs to decide whether he was going to survive the night. Waiting for the morning, for Jester and their new companion, Caduceus, to have enough spells to hopefully heal the damage done to Caleb. Too much damage for what healing spells they’d used to manage.

They still weren’t certain he’d make it until morning. Jester was worried. Caduceus seemed disturbingly unmoved for someone they were hoping would heal their friend. Nott was frantic. Beau could hardly be coaxed from Caleb’s side. She’d been sleeping in the hall before her shift. Yasha had a feeling she wouldn’t move far beyond the door when it was over. 

Yasha struggled still to put it all together. She hadn’t been awake for very long - only returning to consciousness after the others dragged her and Caleb back to the inn and interrogated Molly. She hadn’t yet seen the wizard, but she couldn’t quite bring herself to leave Molly’s side, so she would see him when it was his turn to watch him during the night. 

For now, she squeezed his shoulder in what she hoped he would consider reassurance. 

Fjord cleared his throat and gestured at Molly. “Gimme your shirt, Molly. It’s fuckin’ disturbin’ me to keep lookin’ at it.” 

He ignored the glare from Molly and the way Yasha seemed to hold him a little closer, and just wriggled his fingers impatiently. “Well? C’mon. I ain’t gonna stand here all night with my fuckin’ hand out.” 

A soft  _ plop _ had the offensive garment in his hand, Molly sitting bare chested and defiant looking beside Yasha, his tail moving in slow circles behind him before he seemed to just slump over. “‘m gonna go have a bath,” he muttered and slunk off, tail still twitching and his head hung down. 

“Ow!” Fjord glared at Nott, and rubbed at his thigh. “Damnit ya little shit! That fuckin’ hurt, Nott.” 

“You hurt Molly!” 

Fjord sighed. “No. Well. Maybe. I dunno. But the shirt was freaky. One of you go and wash our circus man. I’m gonna go and burn this fuckin’ thing.” 

And buy Molly a new one with extra ruffles. Not that he planned to share that. 

This had to be the longest, weirdest and worst day. 

What the fuck had even happened? He rubbed at his thigh absently and wandered off to the roaring fireplace, fingers tracing the dried blood and gore on Molly’s shirt. 

Yasha stood up and followed after Molly without a word to the rest of them. Nott seemed fully capable of keeping them all well-in-line. Not something she would have thought of the little goblin upon first meeting her, but people had depths. 

Despite how short his life had been to this point, Mollymauk  _ also _ had depths. Ones deep enough to get lost in. 

She didn’t say anything as she followed him into the room that had been unofficially designated for cleaning. When she’d woken up, she’d discovered that a large wooden tub had been placed in the middle of one of the rooms they’d rented. Jester and Fjord had already used it to wash off the stink of the cages they’d been held in. Beau had washed off the blood from their various battles only at Fjord’s insistence. Yasha had cleaned herself after she’d woken, partly in an attempt to procrastinate going downstairs to where the others were. 

She’d been afraid that she would go down there and find that Molly  _ wasn’t  _ among them. 

Terrible dreams and haunting fears had kept her bathing for far longer than she would ever admit. 

She followed Molly into the room without hesitation, her footsteps silent. She laid her sword down on the bed as he set about undressing and sat down next to it, watching him. 

He’d pulled off his boots and was working on his pants when she finally spoke. “You have a scar.” 

“I have many, many scars, darling Yasha,” Molly said and did his best to keep his voice light and cheerful. He hoped it wasn’t as shaky as it sounded in his ears. “You’ll have to be a mite more specific about which one.” 

He knew which one she meant. 

The big, curving one right in the middle of his abdomen. Thick and knotted and  _ awful _ . 

Because it’d been a killing blow. He’d been dead.  _ Dead dead dead. _ Woke up in the dark and dirt and then -- 

“So many to choose from, after all!” 

He knew she meant that one. 

“You’re still here,” Yasha said. She meant it to be matter-of-fact. He was here. This scar meant no more than any other, except that it meant he was  _ here.  _ But there was too much weight still from that possible world in which he  _ wasn’t,  _ and her voice trembled slightly. 

She looked down at her knees, away from him, hands curling into fists. Looking away from him was a trial in and of itself, but now that she had, she feared looking back up. 

What would she even do if he was  _ gone?  _

Molly paused, barefoot and with his pants undone, and looked at Yasha. And then he was climbing into her lap like a child before he knew it, tail curled tight around her waist and his shaking hands clutching at her shirt like it was the only thing keeping him there. Molly pushed his face into her shoulder and shuddered.

Maybe it was. 

If he let go, he’d be untethered again.  _ Dead _ . 

“I’m still here,” he whispered into her shoulder.

Yasha wrapped her arms tightly around him - surely too tightly, but if she was the only thing holding him in this world, then she didn’t intend to ever let go. She pressed her face into his filthy hair, smelling nothing but earth and blood, and shuddered. 

She didn’t say what she was thinking. That he’d been gone, in her dreams. How his coat had looked, hanging on a branch in the middle of an empty road, blowing in the wind - a marker only a few of them would know and recognize. That she had been mourning him when she woke. That she was afraid she was still asleep and this was only a dream. That he smelled of a grave she knew he must have crawled out of and she feared it was only a temporary reprieve from a dark place she couldn’t follow. 

She didn’t say any of these things, because she was certain he knew most of them and the ones he didn’t know wouldn’t help. Yasha only held him as tightly as she dared, breathing in the scent of him beneath the dirt and blood, revelling in the warmth from his body. 

“You’re still here.” 

* * *

Nott moved on stealthy little feet past the room with the tub in it, hearing Molly’s soft, muffled sobs through the door. She crept down the hall and into the room where her Caleb was sleeping.

Beau’s eyes met hers as she entered, but she didn’t say anything and Nott simply moved to the edge of the bed. She peered at Caleb, shivered at the sight of him and then clambered up onto the bed. The blankets were soft, and they smelled clean, but her nose was filled with dirt and blood and  _ fear _ . 

Because Caleb… he was  _ hers _ . 

Nott put her head on Caleb’s thigh and closed her eyes. “You’re not allowed to go,” she mumbled. 

Beau crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back against the wall where she was sitting. The room smelled  _ awful.  _ It was just… blood and sweat, made thicker by the heat from the blazing fireplace. She was sweating, but Caleb’s skin was icy no matter how many blankets they piled on top of him or how they banked the fire. 

He’d torn open his wound again, too. Not that it had been healed much. Whatever Lorenzo and his fuckbuddies had done to keep Jester, Fjord, and Yasha contained, it had kept them from any sort of true rest. They were all exhausted and tapped for magic when they got them out of the cells. Jester had tried calling on The Traveler, but she hadn’t been able to do anything with her magic and had resorted to her medicine kit. It left Caleb with bandages wrapped around his stomach and chest that had quickly turned red. 

They were soaked through now. The blankets, too. But Beau didn’t know what to do. 

Well. She  _ did. _

“Nott.” She picked at a thread on her robes. “You think that place we stopped at - Ophelia’s. You think they’d have some potions?” She wasn’t sure. She didn’t trust the woman. Less so without Caleb there to catch whatever she spoke in Zemnian. There was no telling if Ophelia was even still there or, if she was, if she’d give them potions. If she’d  _ care.  _

If this town wasn’t out in the middle of fucking  _ nowhere…  _

Nott looked up and gave Beau a sharp grin. “I think she would.” She glanced at Caleb and then back to Beau. “And there’s no need for us to ask.” 

Beau’s lips quirked up a small attempt at a smile. “I suppose there isn’t.” She looked back at Caleb, her smile fading. He was horribly pale, dark circles under his eyes. How he’d woken up at all, she had no idea. Stubbornness, probably. Asshole. 

She just hoped that stubbornness would keep him alive until they could heal him. 

What kind of town didn’t sell healing potions, anyway?

“As soon as Molly gets here, we’ll go.” She needed to do  _ something.  _ If she had to sit here and watch Caleb bleed to death, she was going to scream. 

* * *

“It’s just a door,” Molly muttered to himself, hand still resting on the handle and unwilling to turn it. Turning it meant leaving the warmth of the bathing room and Yasha’s steadying presence. It meant going to sit beside Caleb’s bed and watch him die. 

Had Caleb sat by him as  _ he _ died? 

Molly shook his head and whacked his horns accidentally on the wood. “Fuck,” he grunted, and shoved the door open. 

Yasha was right behind him, of course. Sword once again in her hand, she stalked after him like a persistent shadow, out into the hall and to the door to the room where Caleb had been taken. 

Even from the hall, they could smell the blood. Yasha’s shoulders tightened on reflex, preparing for a battle. But this fight wasn’t hers. 

It would have been a lot easier if it was. 

Molly sauntered in, ignored Beau and Nott, and sat himself down on the edge of Caleb’s bed. He picked up one, pale and bloody hand in his own and cradled it to his cheek. It was cold, icily so, and he held it there till it warmed just a little. 

“You look like shit, Mister Caleb.” Molly glanced at Nott and Beau. “Whatever you’re planning-” he snorted at their startled expressions. They were so  _ obvious _ . “- do it quickly. Now would be best, hm?” 

Beau scrambled to her feet and made her way to the door in three quick strides, Nott scampering after her like she was afraid she’d be left behind. 

So when she stopped suddenly in the doorway, the goblin slammed into the back of her legs with a curse. Beau ignored her, turning back to look into the room. 

“Hey, uh… Molly?” She waited until he’d looked up at her, feeling uncomfortably naked under the weight of his red eyes. She cleared her throat and shuffled her feet, looking away from him and remembering a conversation in the middle of the night about the greatest trick they’d each pulled, and her words to Caleb and Nott and Keg over a grave. 

Her face tightened at the memory, brows drawing down, and she took a deep breath before she lifted her head, back straightening as she looked at him. 

“I’m glad you’re not dead.” 

Then she turned and swept out of the room before he could respond. They had shit to steal and a wizard to save. 

Molly watched them go and blinked just once. He looked down at his hands, no longer covered in dirt and dried blood and then at the shirt he’d borrowed from Fjord. “So am I, Beauregard,” he murmured and turned back to Caleb. “Don’t you dare die now, Mister Caleb.” 

Molly leaned over to press a kiss to his forehead just as he had done when Caleb was lost in himself once before and then moved away to rummage briefly through his bag in the corner. He was grateful that they’d kept it on them, the sentimental fools. The filthy tapestry was rolled and tucked away somewhere. Molly hadn’t thought to drop it, choosing instead to simply wrap it around himself as he snagged his coat and walked. A brief forage through the depths of his bag had his prize in hand, and Molly moved back to the bed, plopping himself carefully onto the bed. 

Caleb looked almost like he was dead and it made something cold and sick settle in Molly’s stomach to even think of it. He didn’t want to think of putting Caleb in the ground. Of covering him in his ratty, filthy coat and then filling in the hole with cold dirt and walking away, just leaving Caleb there  _ alone _ in the dark and- 

and - 

he swallowed down the bile and the panic that were threatening to rise. This wasn’t the time. Nope. Not now. Panicking and freaking out could all come later when his favourite stinky wizard wasn’t fucking dying. He glanced at Yasha, but her eyes were closed, and he wasn’t actually sure if she was awake or not.

It was easy to gently,  _ so fucking gently _ , move Caleb’s head and prop it on the pillow in Molly’s lap. He ran his claws through the wizards hair, brushed another soft kiss to his brow, and then set to work with his brush. “You’re damn right I’m taking advantage of this situation, Mister Caleb,” he said softly. “You’re going to wake up so well-groomed that you’ll think… well, who knows. But it’ll be amazing, just you wait and see.”

* * *

Beau was vaguely aware of Fjord shouting at them about where the fuck they were going. Both she and Nott ignored him, because they didn’t have time to spend  _ explaining _ when Caleb was fucking dying upstairs. 

She saddled up one of the horses, figuring that the time it took to tack Toilet up would be saved by riding to the Mardoon’s. She grabbed Nott as she climbed into the saddle and set the goblin in front of her as the horse took off. 

At least Olivia Mardoon’s place wasn’t  _ too _ far away. 

“So how do you want to do this?” she asked Nott as they rode. The goblin was a bit more adept at breaking and entering than Beau, for all of her practice as an illicit youth. “Find a back window? Or I’m all for taking the guards out. I could definitely go with  _ hitting something _ right about now.” 

Nott just grinned. “You must leave it to me, Beau. I’ve got acid and I’m sneaky as fuck.” 

She had taken the time earlier to do a brief canvas of the place, taking note in her mind of the weaknesses in security and the unmanned servants entry at the side of the building. “There’s a servants entry rift by the front door,” she said. “I’m just going to walk in, dissolve the locks if I need to, and walk back out with what we need. Caleb and I call this one  _ Spiders Eyes.” _

Nott turned and winked at Beau. “Do  _ not  _ ask why.”

Beau made a face. “Ugh. I don’t think I  _ want  _ to know.” She guided the horse at a gallop through the town. It was sometime well-past midnight, but Shady Creek Run was the sort of place that never slept. 

There weren’t many people walking around outside - Beau suspected this place had never been safe enough for regular sorts of people to do that even during the daytime. But there were some tough looking brutes sitting outside of various places, looking menacing. 

Parts of the mercenaries available here, she thought. Beau could feel their eyes on her and it made her nervous. They still weren’t sure if any of these people had been loyal to Lorenzo. Although, in all likelihood, they wouldn’t do anything unless provoked. Not without coin to weigh their actions. 

She paid attention to them, because  _ not _ doing so was just fucking stupid, and she  _ wasn’t,  _ but they passed them by without incident as they headed for the estate. 

“So what do you want me to do?” 

“Stay with the horse and don’t be seen.” 

Nott slipped down as soon as the house was in sight, and promptly vanished from Beau’s. The quicker she did this, the quicker she could get back to Caleb’s side and make sure he didn’t die. There was absolutely no way she was going to lose her boy. She was going to save him, see him grow powerful and be happy. 

There was no other alternative. 

* * *

“-- and then I decided that no, trapeze simply wasn’t for me after all. Besides, my tarot cards have always served me well, and there’s no reason they shouldn’t continue to do so.” Molly tugged a stray strand of Caleb’s hair back into place and finished his tidy braiding. “There. Now you look fabulous.” 

“They suit you.” Caleb’s voice was barely there at all, just a faint whisper as he watched Molly with glassy, half-open eyes. “Mister Mollymauk.” 

Molly stared down at the unfocused eyes watching him and smiled brightly. “Welcome back, Mister Caleb,” he said softly. He carefully traced his fingers over Caleb’s cheeks and cupped his face lightly. “What can I do?” 

Caleb’s lips quirked up slightly as his eyes roamed Molly’s face. “You are here, mein freund. That… thank you. For that.” 

“Yes, well, we’ll discuss that incident later,” Molly muttered. “For now, let’s worry about you, hm? Do you think you could stomach some water?”

Loathe though he was to move Caleb out of his lap, Molly knew he needed to drink if he could. 

Even the simple idea of swallowing made his throat throb in sympathy. He started to shake his head, then forced himself to stop, groaning a little at the pain. “No. Tut mir leid.” He drew a deep breath through his nose and leaned a little more into the warm hand pressed against his cheek. “How long?” 

“Honestly, I don’t quite know,” Molly murmured. He flicked his tongue over the point of one of his teeth and then sighed. His tail was wrapped tightly around Caleb’s leg and he let it do as it wanted, the tip making small circles on his skin. “But I know that Nott and Beau have gone to… acquire you some healing potions. And Caduceus and Jester are both sleeping, so they can try more magic healing as soon as possible.” 

Caleb hummed, a note of confusion in the wordless tune as his eyes cracked open, finding Molly’s face with some difficulty. “And what happens to you then, Mister Mollymauk?” He shivered and grimaced at the pain it sent through his chest, shutting his eyes against the burning ache inside of him, like fire. Like… precisely what he deserved for all his sins. 

“Will I see you again, mein freund?”

That… no. Nope. 

Molly leaned down and pressed his forehead to Caleb’s, mindful not to whack the poor man with his horns, and held tighter to his face. “I’m not fucking going anywhere,” he said firmly. “And neither are you. Do you understand me, you  _ prick _ ! There’s no Mighty Nein without  _ you _ .” 

Caleb chuckled weakly. “I am afraid we may have stopped being the Mighty Nein after we lost you, freund.” He turned his face into Molly’s hand, relishing in the feeling of it. He felt himself drifting away and wondered if this was the end. 

“But I am grateful. It would be terrible… to die alone.” 

“Caleb?” Molly lifted his head from Caleb’s and then looked to Yasha. “Go and get one of the clerics! Wake them up! He can’t - Yasha?!” 

Yasha didn’t bother asking questions. She was on her feet and out the door before Molly had finished shouting her name. She burst into the first room she came to, startling Jester awake. 

“Yasha?” The tiefling rubbed her eye sleepily, looking at the woman in confusion for a moment before her expression registered. “Oh no! Is it Caleb?” She shot out of bed. “Oh no, oh no, oh no, he was so hurt.” She darted past Yasha before the woman could say anything and hurried to Caleb’s room. “Molly! I’m so sorry! Is he okay?” It was still dark out. She hadn’t been asleep long - maybe a couple hours. “Oh, let me try and ask for The Traveler’s help again. I know he’ll help. He knows Caleb is our friend!”

She clutched her symbol of The Traveler in her hand. “Oh, Traveler, my friend Caleb is so badly hurt! He got hurt saving me and Fjord and Yasha, and I don’t want him to  _ die!  _ Please help me! Just a little, Traveler? Please?” 

She opened her eyes and looked worriedly at her symbol, before letting it fall back against her hip. “Okay okay okay,” she whispered, placing a hand over Caleb’s chest. “Just a little, okay, Traveler? Please?” She sank her teeth into her lip and focused on her magic, and there was the smallest glow of light beneath her palms. “Oh, thank you, Traveler! Thank you!” It was barely enough to do anything more than stop him from dying, but it  _ was _ a spell. 

Jester’s arms dropped down to her sides and she wove where she stood. She might have fallen if Yasha didn’t grab her. “I’m sorry. That--that--  _ fucker  _ sapped all my spells.” She leaned a little more heavily against Yasha. “I can’t heal him, but he’s stable, at least.” She looked at Caleb and then at Molly. Her lip trembled but she put as much confidence in her voice as she could. “He’s  _ going  _ to be okay, Molly. He  _ has  _ to be. He’s Caleb!” 

“Alright you lot.” Fjord crossed his arms and shook his head. “He’s alive. Can’t do anythin’ more now till Nott and Beau get back. I’m puttin’ Jester back to bed with Cad, and ya’ll are stayin’ right here.” He pointed at them one by one. 

“Yasha’s gonna guard the damned room. Molly, stay right where you are. Keep doing… whatever you’re doin’. Caleb’ll live, ‘cause we’ll kill him if he don’t.” 

He nodded again, firmly, and then scooped Jester up from where she was swaying against Yasha’s side. He sighed when she passed out almost immediately, and then glanced back at where Molly’s hands were moving through Caleb’s hair, the tiefling murmuring something that sounded almost  _ soft _ in Infernal. 

Whatever the fuck was goin’ on there, he wished them luck. And he really hoped Caleb lived. He fuckin’ liked the stinky wizard bastard. Fjord hoisted Jester further into his arms, and left the room. He’d tuck her back in beside Caduceus and then he needed a fucking drink. Or two. 

Or ten. 

* * *

Beau wasn’t exactly the most patient person in the world. She could be, when she needed to, but she didn’t like it. 

Standing outside Olivia Mardoon’s house, trying to look inconspicuous while she waited for Nott - not the most fun she ever had. 

Also, she was fucking jealous of that spell Caleb and Nott had that let them talk to other people. That would have been really useful right now. 

“Come on, Nott.” Man, she hoped the little goblin didn’t get caught and arrested. They already had enough shit going on. 

Then again, was Shady Creek Run the sort of place that  _ arrested  _ people? Lorenzo and his fuck squad had been running a trafficking ring and no one did anything about that until they came along. It was far more likely Olivia’s guards would just kill the goblin on sight. 

Fuck. 

“Come on, Nott. Fucking hurry up.” 

“Shit, shit! FUCK!” Nott ducked the angry swipe of the guards hands and laughed as she darted down another narrow hallway and hid in the shadows. She focused and quickly cast message. “ _ Beau! I’m on my way, and I’ve got company. Be ready! You can reply to this message!”  _

“Fucking about time,” Beau growled, turning toward the window and dropping down into a ready stance. “Let’s go.” 

“BEAU!” Nott leapt clear of the hands grabbing for her, turned around to fling the last of her acid at them and cackled madly at the resulting shrieks. “Let’s GO!” 

She flung herself up into the saddle and laughed as Beau turned the horse and took off at a gallop. 

“Let’s hope they leave it at that,” Beau said, as their horse raced back toward the tavern. “But just in case, we’ll need to tell Fjord and Keg to keep an eye out.” 

The two of them had turned into the unofficial guards while they were at the tavern, keeping an eye on the door and the people around them. Beau had been more focused on guarding Caleb. 

It was maybe a little because she’d felt guilty for not checking the whole compound again before heading downstairs. If she had, maybe they would have realized they’d missed someone. 

Maybe Caleb never would have gotten hurt. 

Nott just held tight to the saddle, her head down and body curled around the bottles in her bag. She’d managed to swipe six, and at least two of them were of a quality she’d never seen before. They sparkled, and she could feel the hair on her arms standing up at the magic rolling off them. 

Caleb would drink them and live and grow powerful and-- 

“Faster,” she growled at the horse. “Hurry up!”

The horse couldn’t go any faster. Beau nudged her heels into its side anyway, to spur it on. 

“Did you get them?” she asked, eyeing the bag Nott had with her. That probably should have been her first question. 

“Took everything they had,” Nott said. “And what I couldn’t take, I smashed.” She turned her head a little to grin at Beau. “Like hell I’m letting him die.” 

Beau grinned back at her. “Of course we’re not. He’s  _ ours.”  _ The tavern came into sight. “I’ll take care of Toilet. You go take care of your boy.” She only slowed the horse when they were feet from the door to the tavern, letting Nott leap off the saddle and rush to the door. 

There was a thick lather of foam covering Toilet’s neck and he was breathing hard. Beau slid off the saddle and tugged the horse to follow her, walking him around a bit to cool him down. They were going to need all of these horses to get the fuck out of this place. 

* * *

Molly flinched a little when Nott came barreling through the door, screeching about potions, but a glare from Yasha had her falling quiet. “Go and fetch Caduceus,” he said to her gently but firmly. “Someone who knows what they’re doing and what they’re looking at is going to be best here.” 

Nott nodded and tore off out of the room, her small fists hammering on the door beside them only a moment later. 

It didn’t take very long for the door to open. The pale firbolg blinked serenely down at Nott. “Hello there. It’s rather early for good mornings, I think.” 

“Caduceus!” Nott tugged on his shirt. “C’mon, c’mon! Come and see Caleb, I went and stole a fuck load of potions to heal him and I need you to look them over so I don’t kill him.” 

“Ah.” Caduceus let himself be pulled out of the room, closing the door behind him. “That will certainly help our wizard friend. Let’s have a look, shall we?”

“Quietly, if you please.” Molly kept his hands moving gently through Caleb’s hair as the door opened again, and he smiled when Nott came padding in on much softer feet than the first time, Caduceus right behind her. 

“I brought Cad!” 

Molly nodded. “Thank you, Nott. Caduceus? She’s brought rather an assortment of potions back. Would you mind terribly looking them over?” 

“Oh, certainly.” Caduceus made his way over to the indicated bag of potions and began to pick through them. His ears flicked a few times as he set certain potions aside. “Here.” He picked up one of the red, sparkling potions. Uncorking it, he took a sniff and nodded. 

“I suppose it can’t be helped he’s not conscious.” He moves serenely over to the side of the bed. “If you wouldn’t mind propping him up and holding his mouth open, we’ll get this inside him.” 

Molly shifted Caleb up carefully till his head was resting on Molly’s chest, and Nott had scrambled up to hold his arms and chest steady. Molly’s hands were on his shoulders. “Easy now, Mister Caleb,” he whispered when the wizard groaned and whined. “Take your medicine like a good boy, hm?” 

“Mollymauk,” Caleb mumbled, not opening his eyes. 

Caduceus’ right ear flicked and he stepped closer to the injured wizard. “Hello there,” he said gently, raising the potion in his hand. “We’ve got something that’ll help you feel much better.”

Caleb’s eyes cracked open slightly, glassy pupils taking him in. He sighed in what sounded like disappointment and went limp in Molly and Nott’s hold. 

Caduceus didn’t take it personally, though his ears did twitch at Nott’s frightened shriek. 

“Hold his mouth open,” he said, and once Molly had taken care to grip the wizard’s jaw, began to slowly pour the potion in his mouth bit-by-bit. He massaged Caleb’s throat with one hand, encouraging him to swallow the tiny mouthfuls before tipping more in. 

It was slow going. Caleb sputtered a few times and once, tried to pull away with a pained whine. But eventually, they managed to get the entire potion inside him. 

“That should do it. We’ll see how that helps and go from there.” He eyed the blankets covering Caleb as Molly gently lowered him back to the bed. “I think he might feel better with some of this blood cleaned up.” He checked his spells, but sadly, he had nothing that would be useful in this situation. That left caring in other ways. “I’ll get some clean blankets.” He left the two of them to watch the wizard as he went in search of fresh linens. 

Molly ignored the others and kept his eyes focused on Caleb’s pained, pale face. He paid no attention to Nott’s fussing as they carefully laid Caleb back down, his head again resting on Molly’s thigh. Caleb was shivering again and Molly frowned a little. “Yasha,” he said quietly. “Will you bring my coat?” 

Yasha slipped out of the room and returned a moment later with Molly’s coat draped over her arm. She handed it to him and moved to the fireplace to throw a couple more pieces of wood on, before returning to her seat by the door. 

Nott watched Molly as he carefully spread his coat over Caleb, tucking it in around him. She could smell Molly on it - the scent of something  _ deep _ and magical almost - that clung to it and to his skin. He always smelt like lavender and it was calming. And now Caleb would sleep wrapped in that smell. She wondered if it was comforting him, and then peered at Caleb’s face. 

It had relaxed an awful lot, and he’d stopped shivering. 

Nott looked at Mollymauk, who was  _ not _ looking at anyone except Caleb, and then looked to Caleb again. 

“I’m watching you, Mollymauk Tealeaf,” she muttered, and curled up on top of Caleb’s feet. 

Yasha watched the three of them, piled together on the bed. Caleb was probably the only one who would get a restful sleep, but at least Nott and Molly we’re finally both  _ still.  _

She glanced at the door as Beau walked in, a humming Caduceus on her heels. He had a pile of blankets in his arms, but smiled at the group and left them on an empty chair, muttering about sleeping until the sun was properly up as he took his leave. 

“How’s he doing?” Beau asked, crossing her arms over her chest as she stood awkwardly in the middle of the room. “Did the potions help?” 

“They have already,” Molly answered her softly. “Go and sit with Yasha, Beauregard. Caleb is sleeping and he is warm. I’ll wake you when it is your turn to sit here again.” 

He gave her a brief smile, and then leaned down to rest his head on Caleb’s again. “ **_You are going to kick this in the ass, Mister Caleb. You’re not allowed to leave me.”_ **

Beau settled down on the floor next to Yasha, leaning back against the wall. Fjord and Keg were downstairs keeping an eye out for Olivia Mardoon’s guards. Jester and Caduceus were sleeping. And Caleb was sleeping soundly - really  _ sleeping  _ this time, she thought, and looking a little less pale beneath Molly’s colorful coat. 

They were all here - the Mighty Nein. All unironically nine of them, damnit, and they were going to protect their wizard. 

After that, who knew where life would lead them, but they’d be together. 


End file.
